Min'na Arigatou
by Akina Hasegawa
Summary: The girls have just started college, and are doing great...but will their new teachers be able to handle them? And what adventures await their old teachers? Rated T for language, and, uh...other things. XD
1. Chapter 1

(A/N) Lu la lu la Piano wa sekai no yume saku no hara ni merodii…Hopefully you all know that song? Azumanga Daioh is a hilarious manga, and the anime is equally funny. I hope I captured everyone's personalities all right in this story. This a fanfiction about the days the girls spend in college, as well as how the teachers are faring without them. It will be more than one chapter, thankfully…I was getting tired of one-shot type stories. XD; Okay, well, enjoy, Min'na!

Chiyo Mihama walked with her head held high down the stairs to the chalkboard, knowing that all the older students were all either smirking or swooning over how small she was compared to them. She heard a few girls giggling as she walked past them and others whispering in small groups. She tried not to look at them, tried keeping her eyes straight in front of her, and didn't listen to any of the other distracting sounds permeating the air around her. She had finally reached the foot of the stairs—she stole a quick glance at the board and the problem she was to solve, not stopping to notice the teacher was tapping his foot impatiently on the carpeted floor. Pretending not to notice his persistent, short coughs, she grabbed a chair from a corner and heaved it over to the board. She took off her shoes politely, despite the fact that this made even more students giggle, and, while standing up on the chair, stretched her arm out to write the answer on the board. After a moment of silence, she lowered the chalk and attempted to get off the chair—but, because her socks were so slick on the metal, she slipped and landed with a shocked scream on the floor. 

She felt her face flush as she got up weakly, holding back tears the best she could, and put on her shoes. The teacher nodded when he saw she was okay, trying to conceal his own amused smile, and, with a small bow to the teacher, she walked as fast as she could up the stairs to her seat. She sat down and slumped as far as she could, careful not to let anyone see her face, red from both embarrassment and from desperately trying to keep her tears from overflowing. She heard a few girls talking about her in the row in front of her, not bothering to keep their voices low, unaware that Chiyo knew every word they said. She bit her lip, blinked back her tears and sat upright, not wanting to miss any part of the lecture…ah, but it was so hard to concentrate. Not only was she having a hard time adapting to this strange, new, American university, but her mind had also been drifting to her friends. She wondered if Tomo was still as enthusiastic as she had always been, and if Osaka was still a bit of a space cadet. She wondered if Sakaki was having trouble with Maya, if Kagura was having luck at her new sports university, if Yomi was still diet-crazy and hot-tempered. If Yukari was having a good time with her new students…

She shook her head and stared down intently at the teacher, who had moved on to say how she, Chiyo, had answered the problem. She had been unfamiliar with his method, but had been able to answer it from reading her notes to make sure she had the new method down. American schools certainly were different from Japanese schools. Suddenly she missed her old school very much, even the ecstatic Ms. Yukari, who had enjoyed hitting her with books. She wondered what she was doing right at that moment…

888

"Damn it, Nyamo…What are we still doing at this damn school anyway?"

Yukari Tanizaki sat slumped in her chair, her head leaning back to stare up blankly at the ceiling, her black hair draped over the chair like a curtain. The woman she had addressed, a pretty younger woman with shorter black hair, who has helping herself to some coffee at the moment, looked up from stirring cream into her drink, and at the lazy teacher with distaste.

"What do you mean 'what are we doing here'?" she asked irritably, now adding sugar to her coffee. "We're teaching…or, at least, one of us is." Yukari sat up straight in her chair and turned around to glare at the younger woman, suddenly looking quite alert.

"You know what I mean, Nyamo," she said gruffly. "Without those airheads running amuck in our school, this place has become the most boring place in all of Tokyo. Thanks for the coffee." Before Nyamo could protest, she grabbed the coffee mug out of her hands and took a large swig, waving her arms wildly as she tried to gulp down the boiling hot substance. After she had managed to get the drink down, and she had taken a few gasps of air, she turned back to give Nyamo a seething look, who was already getting another cup of coffee and was no longer paying attention to the angry female. She took a few sips of coffee before answering Yukari, who was once again staring at the ceiling.

"Airheads?" she asked, causing Yukari to look up feebly. "You mean the airheads that were in _your _class? What were their names again…?" She knew Yukari was giving her a death glare, but decided against even pretending to notice. Yukari finally got up and made her own coffee, putting as much sugar in as she could without the mug overflowing.

"Where do I start?" she grumbled, taking a smaller sip of her coffee, not even flinching at the sweet taste. "There was that too-damn-happy-for-her-own-good student Tomo, then there was Osaka, the one who could barely remember her own name, let alone my lessons, that sport-jock Kagura, who had more brains in her boobs than her head, Koyomi—well, Koyomi was okay, I guess…Have I forgotten anyone?" Nyamo had flinched at the titles she had given each of her students, but continued to drink her coffee all the same.

"I believe you forgot Chiyo-chan," she said calmly. Yukari scowled at her coffee, as if discovering for the first time she had drowned her coffee in sugar.

"Of course…Chiyo-chan. She was always the brightest student…always getting A's…She was always so cheery and smart and cute." She took another big gulp of coffee, a look of utter disgust on her face once more. "It always really pissed me off." Nyamo shook her head at Yukari's brutish language before setting her coffee mug in the sink and walking over to her own desk.

"Come on, you know you miss them. They were the life of the school. Tomo was always to full of energy, and even though she was horrible in my class too, she always tried harder then the rest."

"Even if what effort she gave still didn't get her a good grade in our classes," Yukari interrupted bitterly. Nyamo frowned slightly, pretending she had not heard.

"And Osaka always had very…unique…ideas," she said slowly, knowing she didn't sound convincing.

"Oh, they were unique all right," muttered Yukari, putting her own mug in the sink with a clank of pottery on silverware. "If we had taken her ideas for the Culture Fest, we would be serving coffee like this with cockroaches in every cup." Nyamo cringed. She absolutely hated insects, especially cockroaches.

"Well," she said, getting over her disgust, "she and Tomo both got into Tokyo U, right?" Yukari snorted.

"By shear dumb luck and some tutoring from Chiyo-chan," she said, once again slumping into her seat. Nyamo sighed and sat down herself, looking through her lesson plans for the next day. After awhile, when Yukari was sure her eyes would give out from staring at the ceiling all day, she closed her eyes and said, with a little effort,

"But I really do miss those guys sometimes."

Nyamo didn't look up from her work--she merely nodded, leaving Yukari to go back to staring at the ceiling once more.

888

"This is soooo dull!"

Every head in the study hall turned to look at the two girls sitting in the back of the room, one staring up at the other blankly, and the other one looking with disgusted disbelief at her textbook.

"What is this crap? Does _anyone _other than me not understand this? What are they thinking, giving us this kinda thing for _homework_? It's a disgrace, I say, an absolute disgrace! Why, I think I should go to the head of this learning facility and complain right now!" Every other word she slammed her fist down on the table forcefully, causing the entire table to bounce, and causing the other girl's eraser to fall on the ground. The girl quickly crawled under the seat the retrieve it, popping up and going back to work like the girl next to her had not spoken. The girl next to her looked down at her, then slammed a hand on her textbook as well, causing the other girl to look up in surprise.

"Osaka, my sister in arms!" the girl exclaimed. "Do you not agree with me? Is this homework not the utmost disgusting thing you have ever laid your own two eyes on? Answer me, Osaka!" The girl she had addressed as Osaka looked at the loud girl blankly for a moment, then down at her textbook, then back up at the girl, smiling obliviously.

"I actually think the homework is a lot better than Ms. Yukari's," she said airily. "I'm just kinda sad that Chiyo-chan ain't here to help us out anymore, Tomo." The girl, Tomo, glared down at Osaka, seeing that she was not going to be any help at all, and turned back to the rest of the study hall students, all of which were still staring at her nervously.

"What about you, my fine man?" she said, spotting a boy not far from where she herself sat. "Do you not think this homework is atrocious? Come on, people, give me some back up! You know you hate it, too!" The boy looked at her vehemently for a moment before turning back around in his seat, muttering, "freak" under his breath. Tomo's eraser soon met his head.

"What about you, Miss?" she asked, pretending she had not thrown the eraser and turning to a girl who was at a higher level then them, who stared scooting her chair further away from the seemingly crazed girl. "Do you, too, wish to be free from the vicious grip homework has on your free time, your social life, you life in genera? Together we can stop it!" She tried to grab the girl's arm and tried to pull her to her feet, but the girl gruffly pulled her arm away from Tomo's grip and walked to a different table. Osaka was trying her best to sound out her English homework, not bothering to look up as Tomo pulled her to her feet; the textbook merely went with her, lifted up an inch from her nose.

"Fellow students!" Tomo continued to yell across the room, "we shall be freed from the iron fist at last! Now is your chance to rise up and take over! Are you with me?" Unfortunately for Tomo, no one stood up—the only thing that happened was the head librarian ran in and pulled both Tomo and Osaka by the ear to the principals office, Osaka still holding the textbook up to her face.

Once they were in the office, the librarian forced the two girls to take a seat in front of the principal's massive desk, taking Osaka's book away so she would not be distracted, and leaving them to their intended doom. Tomo leaned back in her chair, her lip stuck out in a pout and her arms crossed over her chest, while Osaka, though mourning over the loss of her book, was curious to see what kind of giant person would have such a big desk. Finally, the principal turned around in his chair, his hands clasped together and a frown on his face. He was a portly man, and was balding slightly, though he insisted upon saying he had a full head of hair…slightly thinning.

"So," he began. He seemed to be at a loss for what to say, so he chose to say, "So," once again. Tomo raised an eyebrow, and Osaka leaned a little closer as if expecting him to say something extremely important. The man shook his head and sighed in exasperation, then looked sternly at the two girls in front of him.

"Miss Takino, you have been causing trouble all week, and, Miss Kasuga, you have been helping her, have you not?" Osaka seemed frozen, staring into space, but the man didn't really expect an answer. Tomo, however, slammed her fist on his desk with false irritation.

"That's a dirty lie, Mister! We haven't been doing anything wrong or unjust! In fact, the way I see it, we're the life and soul of this school! Without us this school would be--"

"A lot quieter," the man snapped, interrupting her with genuine irritation. "Ever since you two came, my school has been going haywire. Every class I walk into is complete chaos, the study halls have become miniature recesses, there are food fights in the cafeteria—this is Tokyo University, by Joe, not an elementary school!" He himself slammed a fist on the table this time, making the two girls in front of him jump. Osaka was looking at the man like he was crazy, and leaned in next to Tomo, whispering hurriedly in her ear. Tomo now looked at the man with disgust, and they both started scootching their chairs away from his desk. The man's face slowly turned redder and redder, until he pushed back his own chair and stood up.

"Honestly, I don't know how you two got into this University! If you are too immature to go through college, then perhaps you should go back to high school where you belong!" A look of horror crossed both the girls' faces, and suddenly they were on their hands and knees, shedding crocodile tears and clasping their hands together.

"Please, Mister, don't throw out into the cold world! I wanna go through college and make my Momma proud!" wailed Osaka. Tomo nodded vigorously, sobbing with a little more enthusiasm then her friend.

"Yes, sir, please, have mercy! If I can't make it through college Yomi will continue to mock me for the rest of my life!" The two girls looked at each other for a moment, then turned back to the man, tears flowing down their faces and their eyes pleading.

"Please let us stay!" they shouted in unison. The principal looked down at them with pity and disgust, not wanting them to drip all over his nice carpet. Try as he might, he didn't think he could send them away now. He sat back in his chair, sighing heavily, and waved a hand towards the door.

"You can stay," he said gruffly, "but just get out of my office. You're both giving me a headache." Then, as if Tomo and Osaka had not been crying at all, the two smiled brightly, and walked hurriedly out of the office. As they did so, the man couldn't help thinking to himself: "Damn brats."


	2. Chapter 2

(A/N) The original author note was a little…touchy. So I decided to rewrite it. XD; Ahem…What I was so ticked off about was that some people didn't take the time to read my note last time. Because of that they left comments saying I had not included all the characters and such…when I had specifically said that this story would be more than a chapter long and that I would include all characters. Other people were confused about Tomo and Osaka's college placement. I had realized that what they said was just a joke, but I don't remember anyone in the story mentioning which college they made it into. In fact, almost no one mentioned what _kind _of college they were going to; the only ones where Sakaki, who was going to study to become a vet, Chiyo-chan, who studied abroad, and Kagura, who hoped to get into an athletics school. I only chose Tokyo U for them because I thought it would be funny—the two biggest idiots from high school end up being the misunderstood geniuses of college. Hehehn. Ok, then, that's it. I hope you remembered to READ it this time, min'na. Enjoy chapter two.

"Oh, wow, look at her!"

"She's so tall and cool! She's really pretty!"

"She looks kind of scary!"

The girl that everyone was whispering about was indeed tall and beautiful, but she was far from scary…at least, her personality was. She had always thought of losing her tough demeanor and just opening up to more people, but it was so hard to make friends these days. Everyone only seemed to care about her looks, and she always heard groups of giggling girls and gawking boys following her. She thought it would have stopped after she entered college, but to no avail; nothing had changed since high school. She tried to block out the squeals of a nearby group of girls as she walked down the hall—she was so intent in her own thoughts, however, that she bumped into a person carrying a large stack of papers, causing the person to fall over, scattering the papers across the hall.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry!" The girl bent down to pick up a few papers, not bothering to look at the person who had now gotten up and was helping her clean up the mess. She leaned in to get a piece of paper…and stopped when she saw what was on it. There was a well-detailed sketch of a spotted cat and a dog curled up together in a patch of sun on a grassy hill. They looked so peaceful…The girl continued to stare at it even as the person, who she discovered to be a boy, pulled it out of her hands.

"Sorry, Miss," he said, putting the papers he had collected, including the one the girl had recently been looking at, into a neat pile. "This huge stack of papers is for the pet club. I was just running them down to the faculty room to be delivered there later." The girl's attention snapped back when she heard the words "pet club."

"Th-there's…such thing as a pet club here?" she asked hesitantly, growing more excited by the minute. The boy smiled at her and stood up, setting the papers down for the time being.

"Yes, Miss, of course there is a pet club. This is a veterinary school. Did you want to join?" The girl bit her lip and looked at the ground. The invitation was very tempting. There had never been a pet club at any of her other schools. And she did need to open up a little more…

"Yes," she said after a moment of silence. "I'd very much like to join this pet club. Where can I sign up?" The boy shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

"I'm going down to the office and faculty room now—I can just sign you up when I go down there." The girl smiled brightly, and took his hand in hers gratefully.

"Thank-you so much! It isn't any trouble, is it?" The boy laughed heartily.

"Not at all! But it would be nice to know your name…"

"Ah, sorry! My name is Sakaki. I think I'm the only one in the school, but if you need a last name the people in the office will have it." The boy shook her hand, smiling brightly, his expression mirrored in Sakaki's face.

"I'm Igarashi Shin. You can call me Shin, if you like, since we're going to be in the same club. Might as well be on friendly terms, right?" Sakaki blushed—it was one of the first times since high school someone had tried to make friends with her so quickly.

"Y-yes!" she stuttered, still bushing furiously. "Wait…you're also in the club?"

The boy nodded before bending over to get his papers. Before he walked away, however, he turned to look back at Sakaki.

"Yup," he replied, "I'm the Vice Pres." And with that he walked away down the hall, carrying his incredibly large stack of papers and leaving Sakaki to stand in the hall alone, watching his back as he walked away.

888

Koyomi Mizuhara walked down the hall quickly, eager to get to her next class fast, even though she still had well over an hour to get there. She speeded past the few others in the hall impatiently, the bag that held her textbooks and everything for the next lesson swinging back and forth rapidly as she sped down the hallway. After she had been speed walking for about ten minutes, she slid into an open doorway, and hid there for a moment, almost not daring to breath. She hesitantly peeked out into the hall—left, then right. Then left again. Finally, when she was sure the coast was clear, she sighed heavily with relief, and stepped back into the hall, walking at a leisurely pace to her next class.

"Yomi-senpeeeeei!" Yomi stopped dead in her tracks, afraid to look back and see the person she knew had been following her. With a groan, she turned around to face a girl who was in fact the same age as her, slightly shorter, with black hair that reached the small of her back. The girl grinned up at her with pleasure, then jumped up and down on the heels of her feet, speaking so fast Yomi hardly caught a word.

"Today-is-Friday-today-is-Friday-today-is-Friday!" she said quickly, bouncing in circles around Yomi energetically. When she had circled Yomi for the fifth time, Yomi grabbed the other girl's shoulders and glared down at her.

"Settle down already!" she snapped. "You had a little extra cake in the cafeteria today, didn't you? You sugar-high little twerp…" The girl giggled and squirmed out of Yomi's grip, continuing her bouncing.

"But the cake is so yummy, Yomi-senpei!" she said. "And you know they always serve extra on Friday! That's why Friday is such a fun-day! Heehee!" Yomi grabbed her shoulders again, her continuous bouncing making her sick to her stomach.

"Don't use that cake as an excuse, Kachi-san—You're _always _hyper. And stop calling me senpei!" She started walking down the hall again, now afraid of being seen with the little pest more then she was of being late. The girl ran after her, trying her best to keep up.

"But, Yomi-senpei, you're so much better at me in everything! How can I not revere you? You're great!" Yomi felt a vein pulsing in her forehead, and tried desperately to keep the anger out of her voice.

"I am not. I'm horrible at P.E., art, and I hate history."

"But you're still better than me, Yomi-senpei!"

"Yes, but there are tons of people that are better than you…and I thought I told you to stop calling me senpei." Kachi looked up at Yomi with confused eyes.

"Yomi…san?" she asked hesitantly. Yomi, who appreciated that she was no longer calling her senpei, looked back at her sidelong.

"Uh…Why are you always so mad at me?" Yomi stopped walking for a second, catching Kachi off guard and almost making her trip. Yomi stared at her for a long time, her look of anger quickly replaced by a small grin.

"I guess it's because you remind me of a person I've known since elementary school." Kachi smiled brightly.

"Does this friend of Yomi-san go here?" Yomi shook her head.

"No, she goes to different college…Actually, it's surprising she even made it to college. A real miracle." Kachi laughed, and even Yomi smiled at the memories.

"This person sounds like a lot of fun! I'd like to meet her someday!"

"Yeah, well, maybe you will someday. You guys might actually get along better than me and her do…" Kachi laughed again, and with that they headed down the hall once more.

888

"Fight-o! Fight-o! Fight-o!"

A group of girls ran around a large track field, yelling what seemed almost like a battle cry to keep their pace steady, their teacher blowing a small silver whistle when they fell behind. One of the females in the group, an athletic young woman named Kagura, didn't bother joining in their cries—she had been keeping perfect pace the entire time, or so she thought. She was near the front, careful not to pass the assigned leader so as not to make the teacher mad. She had even passed those who were in track and field.

The teacher blew her whistle long and hard, signaling that the warm-up run was over. All of the girls stopped running and walked over to the side, breathing evenly to slow their heart rate. Kagura took her water bottle out of her pack and took a few sips, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand when she was done. She was just about to walk off the track to do her stretches when the teacher called her over.

"Kagura! Come over for a sec!" Kagura took a deep breath, then turned around and walked over, trying her hardest to put on a smile.

"What's up, teach? Something bugging you?" she asked cheerily. The teacher, however, did not smile. Instead she sighed, and pressed a few fingers to her temple.

"Kagura, you're been pushing yourself real hard ever since you came here. You've been drinking less and less fluids, you've been running much faster then before, you've had dizzy spells all this week—this wasn't happening when you first came, and now it seems it happens everyday." Kagura's smile vanished and was replaced by a look of scorn.

"I'm only trying to do my best," she said sternly. "If I can't keep up, then I might as well go to a different school, right?" The teacher shook her head and sighed again.

"Just because you're not as fast as the other girls doesn't mean you have to mistreat yourself. Stick to your own pace, Kagura. You'll be at a higher level in no time." She turned her back on her, then, and went off to bug some other student about how their arms had been flailing when they ran. Kagura stood rooted to the spot, not knowing whether to be angry or depressed. What the teacher said was true—she _had _been pushing herself harder and harder to keep up with the other girls. It was annoying having to be left behind and then laughed at later by the other girls. Even the boys laughed at her, since their girlfriends and such told them everything. But when she suddenly became faster then them, the laughing would stop. She could walk the halls without feeling ridiculous. She liked it better this way.

Without thinking anymore on the subject, she walked off the track and began stretching. As long as she was becoming a faster runner than the track stars, she might as well be prepared to embarrass the volleyball team as well.

End Chapter 2 

(A/N) Yup, it's be again. Just wanted to say a few things. Yes, making Sakaki a little less polite then she should be is my excuse of not giving her a last name XDD Oh, and senpei means a person who is at a higher level than you are, such as an upper-classman. Bai-bai, now.


	3. Chapter 3

(A/N) Okay…I'm starting to get bugged with all these comments…Apparently I can't write an Azumanga fanfic…I KNOW that it was a joke that Osaka and Tomo were trying for Tokyo U. I KNOW that some of the characters are _out _of character. I KNOW that I have absolutely no idea what goes on in a college. I'm 13—_please _give me a break, min'na. In fact, there have even been comments on my Japanese…Min'na can be spelled like that. It's to show that the two N's are pronounced separately. Please pick up a Japanese/English dictionary or whatnot for yourself, and _please _stop with the pointless comments that I have heard ten times over. Sorry for being cranky. I'm typing this in the early morning, and I am always cranky in the morning. I don't mean to yell at those who have been kind enough to except my fanfic, like Beowolf and Katana. If someone writes any nasty comments because I'm "rude and obnoxious" in my author notes, please be warned that I will only snap at you more... Enjoy chapter 3, min'na.

Sakaki was nervous about going to the pet club the first day—for about fifteen minutes all she could do was stand outside the door, biting her lip and shuffling her feet nervously. Finally she took a deep breath, and, squeezing her eyes shut, opened the door and walked in.

She opened her eyes a bit to get a peek of what the room was like—seeing that it was exactly how she imagined, she opened her eyes completely, and walked in with a smile. The room was extremely orderly, with many small tables and counters that held skeletons of small animals and household pets, first aid kits, an array of shots and medical tools, and even a small bathtub was set into one of the counters. There was a circular table in the middle of the room, where a group of people sat, some of them a few years older than Sakaki. She recognized the boy she had run into that morning, and he seemed to have noticed her, too, for he motioned for her to take a seat. She smiled and nodded, and sat between a girl she knew from on of her classes, and another girl who was a year or two older than her. When she sat down, all eyes were planted on her for a second—Sakaki blushed and looked away, not wanting to think she liked the attention. The boy cleared his throat, however, causing all eyes to shift back to him once more.

"We have a few new members joining us today," he said, looking at each new member in turn, "so I believe we should all introduce ourselves. Does that sound good to you all…or would you rather have them guessing your names?" There were a few giggles, and then an older girl stood up.

"I shall introduce myself first," she said, her voice carrying an air of importance. She looked at Sakaki, who felt it impolite to break her gaze this time. "My name," she continued, "is Fukuji Mine. I am the president of this club. You may call me Fukiju-sensei, Fukuji-sempai, or just Mine. Whatever you wish to call me, anything is fine. Just no cute high school girl nicknames, all right?" Sakaki felt a little heat rise to her cheeks, both from embarrassment and anger—she bowed hurriedly so as not to reveal her emotions to the president.

"Y-yes," she said, "I am honored to meet you." The other new students did the same. After the president stood up, the vice president stood up. He introduced himself as Ayomiya Shou, then let the other students introduce themselves in turn. Finally, it was Sakaki's turn. She stood up, trying not to let her embarrassment show on her face, and cleared her throat.

"My name is Sakaki…Um, it's my first year here at this veterinary college, and I'm very honored to be here. I hope to give what I can to this club. I shall always try my best." She bowed again and sat down. Shou nodded at her approvingly, as did the president, and she smiled brightly. After introductions were done with, Shou went on to talk about a local animal shelter that was in need of some helping hands. He said he would have a word with the dean about taking a bus off campus to the shelter during lunch. Sakaki vaguely wondered how she was going to be able to eat her lunch when they were going to the shelter, but she was more than thrilled that they would be going to one. Thinking about all the cats she would see there reminded her of her own cat, Maya, who was waiting patiently for her return after school. Since the club was an after-school program, poor Maya would have to wait a little longer for her to get back…

"…and that is why we're holding this campaign," said Mine, placing a medium sized cardboard box on the table, and making Sakaki focus her attention on her new president. "We shall get as much money as we can through bake sales, paper routes, community service, anything we have to do to get the animals at the shelter enough money for vaccines. You, Mitsuru-san, will put one in each class, and, if you have permissions from the teacher, explain what cause the money will go towards. If anyone would like to make a donation, they will do so. For the next few weeks we shall be going with this method, and in the meantime we shall be doing other things to earn money for the animals. Any questions?" No one raised their hands, so Mine handed the box to a tall boy, Mitsuru-san, Sakaki supposed, and sat down again. Sakaki rummaged in her pockets for a few minutes, and then walked over to Mitsuru before he left the room and dropped a five hundred yen coin.

"The first donation," she said, smiling proudly at the president as she sat down again. The president nodded, but didn't say anything, whereas Shou smiled at Sakaki approvingly, making Sakaki's own smile widen. There were a few more announcements, and then the president declared that that everyone could go home. Sakaki grabbed her backpack and coat from where she had left them beside the door and started to walk down the hall. She was nearing the stairs when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Shou smiling at her, and she turned around, slightly confused at why he had stopped her in the hall.

"Ayomiya-san," she said, "what are you doing? Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?" Shou still smiled, but stood up a little straighter. Sakaki saw that at his full height he was a little taller than she was.

"I was just thinking that that was a really nice thing you did," he said cheerily. "Not many people would even give ten yen to save the animals." A look of worry crossed Sakaki's face.

"So we won't be getting much money during this campaign?" Shou shook his head.

"With ten yen apiece for every student in this college it won't be near enough. That's why we always plan so many different money making shindigs. One idea has to actually be worth a million, right?" Sakaki sighed with relief and nodded.

"Maybe not a million…but still worth a lot." Shou grinned broadly, bowed, and began walked backwards up the hall so he could still talk to Sakaki face to face.

"The next meeting is Friday," he called, "I'll see you then, Sakaki-san." Sakaki nodded and waved as he walked further down the hall. After he had disappeared through an open door, she walked the rest of the way through the school and to her car in the parking lot. She then drove to her house, taking the fast way so as not to miss a moment with Maya. When she got home, she saw a little brown face peeking out one of the windows. She chuckled, then opened the door carefully and walked in.

"Maya! I'm home!" The little brown iriomote cat ran into the living room and jumped into Sakaki's arms, licking her face and purring loudly. Sakaki giggled and set the cat down, checking his food and water trays to make sure they were full. She hung her coat up and took off her shoes, then she walked into the carpet floor of her house and picked up one of Maya's favorite toys—a stuffed catnip mouse that hung from a string. She dangled it for a little while, pretending to bat at it like a cat, until Maya became interested and walked over to bat it around himself. He bit and scratched at it for a bit, then Sakaki set the mouse and the ground and dragged the string along so it looked like the mouse was running away. Maya gave chase, clawing at the toy mouse and batting it with paw from time to time. He finally pounced on it, and bit it where the neck would have been, like a normal wild cat. He knew by now it wasn't a real mouse, and became uninterested in the toy.

Sakaki grinned and hummed to herself as she placed her homework on the coffee table and got started. Maya rubbed against her legs, and she petted him appreciatively, but got started on her work none-the-less. She got up to prepare dinner later, then returned to the table with dinner to continue her homework as she ate. It was very quiet in the house; Sakaki did not want to turn on the T.V. or radio for it would distract her. She was almost sorry she had decided not to get a dorm with another person, but it was nice just being by herself in her own home. Still, she missed having people come over and laughing with her friends…Living by herself was just so much less exciting then being with them.

888

Chiyo was having more trouble fitting in than Sakaki was. For one thing, she was shorter than anyone else in the school—she had been the shortest kid in high school as well, but being short had never bugged her as much as it did now. Also, though she could speak perfect English, students spoke about her when she was in plain sight, and teachers talked to her like she has a small child. It made her angry that everyone treated her that way. She had come to see that most American college students were ignorant and rude and didn't care much about the feelings of their fellow classmates. She herself had tried not to think so pessimistically lately, but it seemed that was impossible. She missed her friends dearly, and almost wished she had stayed in Japan and gone to Tokyo University instead with Tomo and Osaka. She wondered if her friends missed her at all…

By lunchtime, she had no trouble keeping an optimistic attitude—the lunch she had packed was quite good, and she was even invited to sit with a group of girls at a table. They spoke like she wasn't there for the first ten minutes or so, which suited Chiyo just fine. She was just happy that she was sitting with people instead of all alone like she usually did. She didn't even notice that the table had gone quiet until she was about to eat one of her croquettes. She put down her chopsticks and looked back at the group of girls staring at her. Se cocked her head, and started to blush. Had she offended them somehow?

"Uh, um," she stuttered, forgetting her lunch, "is something w-wrong?" A girl sitting not far from her looked at Chiyo's neatly packed lunch, her chopsticks, and then back up at her.

"What is all that stuff?" she asked hesitantly. "And can you really eat with chopsticks?" Chiyo giggled.

"Of course I can eat with chopsticks," she replied. "The food is just something I made this morning. There's some rice, pork croquettes, and some gyouza." A student looked closer at the things she had called "gyouza."

"They look like pot-stickers to me," she said. Chiyo nodded.

"Yes, I suppose that what you call them here in America," she said. She picked up her chopsticks again, and was just about to pick up another croquette, when the students starting bombarding her with more questions.

"Are you really from Japan?"

"You can't be! How can you speak perfect English?"

"Which part of Japan did you come from?"

"Is that your natural color?"

Chiyo sat in stunned silence, waiting for the questions to subside—since when did anyone show much interest in her?

"Well," she started when the questions had stopped, "I am from Japan, yes—I used to live in Tokyo, around the Shinjuku area. In Japan, every school has an English class in which you can learn the language. Since I'm at a higher level than most kids my age, I know perfect English. Ah, and yes, this is my natural color."

"Cool!" said the girl who had asked the first question. "Hey, you're name is Chiyo, right? Chiyo Mihama?" Chiyo nodded.

"Why, yes, it is!"

"Great! So, Chiyo, can I try a bit of that croquette thing?"

Chiyo felt odd being called just plain Chiyo—usually people called her –chan because she was so short. She happily gave each person a tiny piece of the croquette to try, and then started a conversation about the different teachers and subjects, and how different schools were than from the ones in Japan. It felt like she was back with her friends, talking and laughing like everything was perfect, which made her feel a lot more confident about going to school in America. She was happy that she had finally been accepted.


End file.
